Printing apparatus, print control apparatus, and print control program

Abstract

In a printing apparatus, when an image printed based on image data of an n-th print job as an n-th print target among designated two or more print jobs is an n-th image, and an image printed based on image data of a (n+1)-th print job as a (n+1)-th print target among the designated two or more print jobs is a (n+1)-th image, n-th post-processing setting information and (n+1)-th post-processing setting information are compared to determine whether or not setting of the post-processing needs to be changed, and when the setting of the post-processing does not need to be changed, print setting is changed so as not to print information based on post-processing setting information set to be printed at a position between the n-th image and the (n+1)-th image on the medium.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A printing apparatus comprising:
 a printing unit configured to print an image on a medium based on image data;   a storage unit configured to store a print job including the image data; and   a control unit configured to perform print setting on the printing unit based on print setting information including post-processing setting information indicating setting of post-processing to be performed on the medium on which the image is printed and configured to cause the printing unit to print two or more designated print jobs among a plurality of print jobs stored in the storage unit, wherein   when n is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and   an image printed on the medium based on image data of an n-th print job as an n-th print target by the printing unit among the two or more print jobs is an n-th image, and   an image printed on the medium based on image data of a (n+1)-th print job as a (n+1)-th print target by the printing unit among the two or more print jobs is a (n+1)-th image, and   the post-processing setting information associated with the n-th print job is n-th post-processing setting information, and   the post-processing setting information associated with the (n+1)-th print job is (n+1)-th post-processing setting information,   the control unit compares the n-th post-processing setting information with the (n+1)-th post-processing setting information to determine whether or not setting of the post-processing needs to be changed, and changes the print setting so as not to print information based on the post-processing setting information set to be printed at a position between the n-th image and the (n+1)-th image on the medium as the print setting for the printing unit when the setting of the post-processing does not need to be changed.   
     
     
         2 . The printing apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the print setting information includes information of an amount of margin in the medium, and   when the setting of the post-processing does not need to be changed, the control unit changes the print setting so as not to secure a margin set to be secured between the n-th image and the (n+1)-th image on the medium according to the information of the amount of margin.   
     
     
         3 . The printing apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein when the setting of the post-processing needs to be changed, the control unit causes the printing unit to print at least one of a change instruction of the setting of the post-processing and a stop instruction of transport of the medium at a position between the n-th image and the (n+1)-th image on the medium. 
     
     
         4 . The printing apparatus according to  claim 3 , wherein when the setting of the post-processing needs to be changed, the control unit causes the change instruction and the stop instruction to be printed at a position between the n-th image and the (n+1)-th image on the medium. 
     
     
         5 . The printing apparatus according to  claim 3 , wherein
 the post-processing setting information includes format information for designating a print format of the change instruction, and   the control unit causes the printing unit to print the change instruction in the print format designated by the format information.   
     
     
         6 . The printing apparatus according to  claim 5 , wherein the control unit changes the print format of the change instruction within a range designated by the format information in accordance with a comparison result between the n-th post-processing setting information and the (n+1)-th post-processing setting information and causes the printing unit to print the change instruction. 
     
     
         7 . The printing apparatus according to  claim 3 , wherein the control unit causes the printing unit to print the change instruction using any one of a character, a code image, and a combination of a character and a code image. 
     
     
         8 . The printing apparatus according to  claim 3 , wherein
 when the post-processing performed first on the medium after printing by the printing unit is primary post-processing and the post-processing subsequently to the primary post-processing on the medium after printing by the printing unit is secondary post-processing, the primary post-processing is performed in a region of the (n+1)-th image and a region of the n-th image, in this order, on the medium, and the secondary post-processing is performed in the region of the n-th image and the region of the (n+1)-th image, in this order, on the medium, and   when the control unit compares the n-th post-processing setting information with the (n+1)-th post-processing setting information, and determines that it is necessary to change setting of the primary post-processing for the region of the n-th image on the medium, the control unit causes the printing unit to print a first change instruction that is an instruction to change the setting of the primary post-processing at a position between the n-th image and the (n+1)-th image on the medium, and   when the control unit compares the n-th post-processing setting information with the (n+1)-th post-processing setting information and determines that it is necessary to change setting of the secondary post-processing for the region of the (n+1)-th image on the medium, the control unit causes the printing unit to print a second change instruction that is an instruction to change the setting of the secondary post-processing at a position between the n-th image and the (n+1)-th image on the medium.   
     
     
         9 . The printing apparatus according to  claim 8 , wherein
 when the post-processing subsequently to the secondary post-processing on the medium after printing by the printing unit is tertiary post-processing, the tertiary post-processing is performed in the region of the (n+1)-th image and the region of the n-th image, in this order, on the medium, and   the control unit compares the n-th post-processing setting information with the (n+1)-th post-processing setting information, and when determining that setting of the tertiary post-processing for the region of the n-th image on the medium needs to be changed, the control unit causes the printing unit to print a third change instruction that is the change instruction of the setting of the tertiary post-processing at a position between the first change instruction and the n-th image on the medium.   
     
     
         10 . The printing apparatus according to  claim 8 , wherein when characters are included in the first change instruction and the second change instruction, the control unit causes the printing unit to print the characters of the first change instruction and the characters of the second change instruction in different directions. 
     
     
         11 . The printing apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein when the setting of the post-processing needs to be changed, the control unit causes the printing unit to print information based on the post-processing setting information and an instruction to stop transport of the medium at a position between the n-th image and the (n+1)-th image on the medium. 
     
     
         12 . The printing apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the control unit is configured to set a plurality of print jobs included in the designated two or more print jobs to a collective print job group that is a group having a common denominator, and   comparison between the n-th post-processing setting information and the (n+1)-th post-processing setting information may be performed on a relationship between the n-th print job and the (n+1)-th print job included in the collective print job group.   
     
     
         13 . The printing apparatus according to  claim 12 , wherein after printing on the medium based on the image data of the last print job included in the collective print job group is ended, the control unit causes the printing unit to print at least a part of the post-processing setting information associated with each of the print jobs included in the collective print job group at a position upstream of an image printed on the medium based on the image data of the last print job in a transport direction of the medium in print order of the print jobs or in reverse order of printing of the print jobs. 
     
     
         14 . The printing apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the print setting information includes cutting information that is information defining in what unit the medium is cut,   the control unit is configured to set a plurality of print jobs included in the designated two or more print jobs to a collective print job group that is a group having a common denominator,   when the cutting information is first cutting information, comparison between the n-th post-processing setting information and the (n+1)-th post-processing setting information is performed on a relationship between the n-th print job and the (n+1)-th print job included in the collective print job group, and   when the cutting information is second cutting information, the comparison between the n-th post-processing setting information and the (n+1)-th post-processing setting information is performed on all the print jobs associated with the post-processing setting information as the designated print jobs.   
     
     
         15 . The printing apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the post-processing setting information associated with the print job is described in a header of the image data included in the print job. 
     
     
         16 . A print control apparatus communicably coupled to a printing apparatus, comprising:
 a storage unit configured to store a print job including image data;   a control unit configured to perform print setting on the printing apparatus based on print setting information including post-processing setting information indicating setting of post-processing to be performed on a medium on which an image based on the image data is printed and configured to cause the printing apparatus to print two or more designated print jobs among a plurality of print jobs stored in the storage unit, wherein   when n is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and   an image printed on the medium based on image data of an n-th print job as an n-th print target by the printing apparatus among the two or more print jobs is an n-th image, and   an image printed on the medium based on image data of a (n+1)-th print job as a (n+1)-th print target by the printing apparatus among the two or more print jobs is a (n+1)-th image, and   the post-processing setting information associated with the n-th print job is n-th post-processing setting information, and   the post-processing setting information associated with the (n+1)-th print job is (n+1)-th post-processing setting information,   the control unit compares the n-th post-processing setting information with the (n+1)-th post-processing setting information to determine whether or not setting of the post-processing needs to be changed, and changes the print setting so as not to print information based on the post-processing setting information set to be printed at a position between the n-th image and the (n+1)-th image on the medium as the print setting for the printing apparatus when the setting of the post-processing does not need to be changed.   
     
     
         17 . A printing apparatus comprising:
 a printing unit configured to print an image on a medium based on image data;   a storage unit configured to store a print job including the image data; and   a control unit configured to perform print setting on the printing unit based on print setting information including post-processing setting information indicating setting of post-processing to be performed on the medium on which the image is printed and configured to cause the printing unit to print two or more designated print jobs among a plurality of print jobs stored in the storage unit, wherein   when n is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and   an image printed on the medium based on image data of an n-th print job as an n-th print target by the printing unit among the two or more print jobs is an n-th image, and   an image printed on the medium based on image data of a (n+1)-th print job as a (n+1)-th print target by the printing unit among the two or more print jobs is a (n+1)-th image, and   the post-processing setting information associated with the n-th print job is n-th post-processing setting information, and   the post-processing setting information associated with the (n+1)-th print job is (n+1)-th post-processing setting information,   the control unit compares the n-th post-processing setting information with the (n+1)-th post-processing setting information to determine whether or not setting of the post-processing needs to be changed, and causes the printing unit to print at least one of a change instruction of setting of the post-processing and a stop instruction of transport of the medium when the setting of the post-processing needs to be changed.   
     
     
         18 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a print control program, the print control program being configured to perform print setting on a printing unit based on print setting information including post-processing setting information indicating setting of post-processing to be performed on a medium on which the image is printed based on image data included in a print job, and cause a processor to perform a print control function that causes the printing unit to print two or more designated print jobs among a plurality of print jobs, wherein
 when n is an integer greater than or equal to 1, and 
 an image printed on the medium based on image data of an n-th print job as an n-th print target by the printing unit among the two or more print jobs is an n-th image, and 
 an image printed on the medium based on image data of a (n+1)-th print job as a (n+1)-th print target by the printing unit among the two or more print jobs is a (n+1)-th image, and 
 the post-processing setting information associated with the n-th print job is n-th post-processing setting information, and 
 the post-processing setting information associated with the (n+1)-th print job is (n+1)-th post-processing setting information, 
 the print control function compares the n-th post-processing setting information with the (n+1)-th post-processing setting information to determine whether or not setting of the post-processing needs to be changed, and changes the print setting so as not to print information based on the post-processing setting information set to be printed at a position between the n-th image and the (n+1)-th image on the medium as the print setting for the printing unit when the setting of the post-processing does not need to be changed.